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Monster Hunter Rise is a massive game with a huge map filled with monsters of varying shapes and sizes and a multitude of weapons and armor sets that players can craft to use in hunting said monsters in the game.
Monster Hunter Rise's base game is full of small gameplay features that enhance the already stellar game loop of tracking and hunting monsters by ten folds. With the Sunbreak expansion, Capcom has doubled down on adding even smaller and more hidden gameplay as well as quality of life features for players.
Here are ten new and hidden features that players will witness in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.
10 new features that will be available with the Sunbreak expansion for Monster Hunter Rise
1) Switch Skill Swap
Monster Hunter Rise gives players 14 different classes of weapons to choose from, according to their preferred playstyle. With every weapon, players also get a wide array of weapon skills that they can hot swap to their desire to customize their hunting loadout.
With Sunbreak, players will have even more options when it comes to switching skills. The expansion will introduce two skill scrolls for players, each scroll can hold a limited number of weapon skills that can be switched swiftly. The two scrolls being the Red Switch Skill Swap scroll and the Blue Switch Skill Swap scroll.
Having the option to quickly swap between two separate skill scrolls will provide an unprecedented amount of freedom to the players during the hunt, with two different playstyles that can be switched between on the fly.
2) Swap Evade
Swap Evade is essentially evading or dodging an attack, but in style. This ability, however, can only be used after a Switch Skill Swap.
The Swap Evade ability allows players to move in any direction while avoiding a direct attack and maintaining their distance from the attacking monster. While it may take players a couple of tries to get the hang of this evading ability, without a shadow of a doubt, Swap Evade is one of the coolest abilities in the expansion.
3) The new and improved wall running mechanic
The wall running in Monster Hunter Rise was already a very fluid and useful mechanic. With Sunbreak, the ability for hunters to scale up walls and similar surfaces has improved substantially.
In the base game of Monster Hunter Rise, wall running required players to first perform a Wiredash via the Wirebugs towards the surface. But with Sunbreak, players no longer need to Wiredash, they can initiate a wall run by simply dashing, jumping or performing a midair evade towards a wall.
Removing the limitation of needing to perform a Wiredash to initiate a wall run is a massive change that makes wall running much more viable in the Sunbreak expansion, during combat, as well as in general exploration.
4) New and unique endemic life in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
Endemic life has always been a unique aspect of the Monster Hunter games. These small yet at times deadly creatures give the hunting zones a lived-in and believable feel.
Although the base game of Monster Hunter Rise is already loaded with various endemic creatures littered across its map, Sunbreak is adding even more of these tiny creatures to aid the hunters during a hectic hunt.
Some of the new endemic life are the two new Morphed Wirebugs - Ruby and Gold Wirebugs that carry unique and shared bonus perks when equipped, Slicercrab - a small hermit crab-like creature that has crystals on its shell, and Spearsquids - mostly docile cephalopods that are not known to be aggressive, but can deal huge amounts of damage using their pointed bodies.
There are also small beetle-like creatures called the Stardust bugs, which exist in star-shaped clusters and can act as explosive traps against monsters, and the Marionette Spider, which are similar to the base game's Puppet Spider but can be used to steer a monster in any desired direction, preferably a hard surface to deal damage and even topple and stagger them.
5) Return of the "Prance" gesture and several new weapon poses
Gestures are a key part of the Monster Hunter experience. With limited player-to-player interaction in these games, gestures and weapon poses are what allow players to express themselves with other players.
Monster Hunter Rise by default carried down a lot of gestures and weapon poses from the previous Monster Hunter title, Monster Hunter World. But with Sunbreak, Capcom is going all out by giving players more options in everything, even gestures.
They even brought back the fan-favorite "Prance" gesture to Monster Hunter Rise with the Sunbreak expansion. The Prance gesture is one of the most popular gestures among fans of old classic games like Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, it was even added to Monster Hunter World via a gestures pack.
Along with that, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak will also receive a variety of new weapon poses for players to play with.
6) Addition of the Palamute pouch
The Palamute pouch is quite possibly the best quality of life addition to the expansion, with an additional 8 inventory slots for players to carry items in during general exploration and hunts.
The additional inventory space is absolutely a much-needed upgrade as this will allow players to carry more essential items on hunts without having to frequently backtrack to a camp to change their inventory loadout.
7) Additional interactions with animal companions
Small interactions with animal companions are one of the most fun parts of the Monster Hunter game. Monster Hunter Rise introduced a new animal companion, the Palamute, which alongside the players' trusty Palico, acts as an invaluable aid during hunts.
The base game allows players to have basic interactions with their furry companions when they are not engaging in a ferocious hunt, giving them the option to Pet, Give Treat, and Shake.
With the Sunbreak expansion, Capcom has added a "Throw Ball" option as an interaction prompt for animal companions. As the option suggests, it allows players to 'throw a ball' for their animal buddies to retrieve.
There are even special animations programmed for the Palico and the Palamute if the player throws the ball out of bounds or in water, making the companions sad and heartbroken for not being able to retrieve the ball.
8) The Kittennator
The small and nimble Palico gets a rather massive upgrade in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. The feline companion usually aids the hunters by healing them and setting traps for monsters, but with the expansion, Palico gets a new tool that packs a rather massive punch, the Kittenenator.
This small turret-like machine, which the Palico can pull out during a hunt, is a massive damage dealer. Due to the Kittennator being like a turret, it's freely rotatable in any direction and can fire out a huge spike that resembles the Dragonantor but on a smaller scale befitting the tiny Palico.
9) New and improved Master Rank and changes in monster attacks
Sunbreak sees the introduction of the Master Rank in Monster Hunter Rise, with some new monsters and attack variations in returning monsters. The Master Rank challenge unlocks after completing the base game.
Players will be able to face some of the new and exclusive monsters in the Sunbreak expansion in the Master Rank. Some of the monsters will be returning from the base game in the Master Rank, but with new attacks and variations, like extended combo chains. Rathian from the base game, for instance, will exhibit a sprinting attack in the Master Rank of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.
10) New HUD options
Monster Hunter Rise already boasts an impressive amount of HUD options for players to tweak to their liking for the best and most immersive Monster Hunter experience. With Sunbreak, however, Capcom has added a few more options for players to play with.
Sunbreak will have the option for players to adjust the amount of clutter they have on their screen, be it the Hit Effects like the damage numbers of players themselves as well as other players when playing in co-op. The expansion will also allow players to turn off the Switch Skill Swap scrolls from their HUD, removing them either partially or entirely.
It's a very welcome quality-of-life change that will allow players to customize their HUD to their liking.
These are just a handful of new additions to the game that are coming with the Sunbreak expansion for Monster Hunter Rise. There quite possibly are even more new and hidden additions made by Capcom to the game that will only be revealed once the expansion releases on June 30 for Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.
Note: This article reflects the author's opinions.
